Do not be alarmed. The "CLASS" attribute is valid HTML, but the new HTML validator that Blogger now sports doesn't know that. Just tell it to ignore the error. And I've logged an issue in the support tool. While I'm at it, I might try again with the post-ordering thing.

Well, while I got lazy about changing the times and dates, i did, at least and at last, manage to post something. It has been a busy, busy week: Family and truck load of worldly belongings, 8 paintings in 2.5 days but now, now things are a little more sane.

And I am at last posting with my new toy: an IBM T40P Think Pad. Hmmmm, technology.

Saturday, June 21, 2003

Logically, Bryan, you would think it would work. Blogger, however, is like an eccentric aunt: great to have at parties, but a little wheely when it comes to the particulars.

It posts the timestamps in Central time, but it orders them in Pacific time. This doesn't affect the majority of blogs, which are ordered with the most recent at the top. With ours, having the posts in forward-chronological order within a day but the days in reverse-chronological, posts between midnight and 2am show up in the wrong spot.

Short answer: Post at any time. Click the "Change Time & Date" checkbox and set the timestamp to say 2:02 am on Monday.

Do not be alarmed by the way the default times in the form boxes seem to suggest that it is converting times to Pacific; when it posts, it will post the time literally as you set it, without translating anything. It's part of the UI's charm.

I need some ideas from you guys. When we started this blog, we did not have any left-coast participants. Now we have four. Not a big deal, except that trying to get a topic up by noon, Central, is somewhat of a hardship for them, I think. Well, that, and we're jealous of their mountains. Having a topic posted early really helps the momentum. What do you folks--in all my timezones--suggest?

600 seconds looks the same, but the editing screen looks very different, at least to me. Good different, but different. I don't use Blogger Pro for my own weblog, so this is the only experience I have with it.

When the blog kicked from Pacific to Central time, all the post times changed. My post for next week shows up in the mix because I posted for next week this week.
That's my two cents, but everybody already seems to have found the bowl of dimes.
Ahhh, yes. Ambiguity, my old nemesis.

And no, of course I don't practice quirking an eyebrow in my monitor mirror. Much. When anyone's looking. Well, I mean, come on. You spend all your days on conference calls overseas, you need to feel like you're talking to a real person. It can be lonely, and you start to worry that you're getting weird. And... nevermind.

...I feel like I'm living in a time warp. Fred, did your post decide to future-date itself all on its lonesome? Ben, how about yours? What the heck is going on?

Or is my day simply spilling out onto the web? That would explain a lot. If you want to avoid bugs, naming your app PiCNiC is ill advised. Not to mention the finger gymnastics of typing that dumb-ass acronym. Grrrr...

Beside it sits a sleek silver laptop that exudes power and skill and, much to Hatch's chagrin, sex.

That's the funniest thing I've read all day, Ben.

Also, Sharon, is the blog's default intentionally set to Pacific time, or is that a glitch carried over from Blogger Pro's recent update? I'm used to it being an hour behind me (splitting the difference with central time has always made sense), but it's three now.

My post today would be funnier if they didn't already do something like it. It isn't Hatch doing it, but they do slow down computers to prevent illegal software transfer.

What pisses me off is that this attitude is very much against the piece of law that makes mix-tapes legal (personal, non-commercial use of legally obtained product. It's the law).That'd be the next step: revoking our right to transfer from CD to MP3. They already don't like the idea. That is, however, why it's legal for your media player to have a "copy from CD" option, and, historically, why it's OK for you to have a tape recorder on your stereo (Yeah, yeah, I'm old).

Saying that MP3 filesharing is illegal is the same as saying that mix-tape sharing is illegal, which is has never been. Sure, Napster pushed the line too hard, fair use still allows for sharing, as long as the copyright wouldn't be damaged and the possibility of marketing isn't taken away from the copyright owner. Napster made it hard to sell CDs. Small-time file sharing does not necessarily do so.

Saturday, June 14, 2003

Thursday, June 12, 2003

Um... I dunno? I remember, a while back, that Neil Gaiman posted a bunch. I think I discovered last night the email where I mailed those to myself. And sometimes I try formal poetry forms, just for the challenge.

Monday, June 09, 2003

Thursday, June 05, 2003

Okay, friends and neighbors, so here's a great reason to keep writing your ten-minute essays. Right now, I am listening to a freshly burned CD of Squid and Elwood, containing songs I have wanted to listen to since 1996 but couldn't because I had a bad dub. This CD comes to me courtesy of a fellow fan who stumbled onto my essay of Two-Fisted Acoustic Mayhem.

So, you see? There are untold benefits to being an active 600 seconds participant. I'm just sayin', is all.

Margaret, I tried to explain future-posting a few months ago, since it's a fairly simple process but one that's given us all some trouble at one point or another. I'm sure someone would be more than happy to post those topics for you while you're gone, but if you'd like to do it yourself...well, FYI.

I thought those two topics naturally suited to one another as well. How could we mind when so beautifully executed. Ooooh there's a good topic:

beautiful execution.

Would someone please post that for me when it is next my turn. My computer comes down on Friday or Saturday. I will be offline for a couple of weeks probably as we settle in. The kids and I head for our new home Sunday. Hey there's another one:

going home.

Since I do not know how to back or future date, would really appreciate someone posting those topics on my days.

Backdated, combining "Secret Passage" and "Ring of Fire" (*grumble grumble* still stuck in my head...), and completely disregarding time limits. I feel like I've told this story here before, but I searched through the archives and didn't find it, so I guess I'm good. You wouldn't mind, anyway, would you?